São Paulo, Brazil – November 10, 2025 – The PRI-CASI Sustainability Forum for COP30 concluded on November 7 with a consensus on advancing key elements of the sustainable finance eco-system and boosting capacities in EMDEs. Co-hosted by Capacity-building Alliance of Sustainable Investment (CASI), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and Institute for Climate and Society (iCS), the half-day forum drew 150 participants from 25 jurisdictions, with strong Latin American representation.
The forum brought together policymakers, investors, industry leaders, and academics to tackle key barriers to scaling sustainable finance—taxonomy interoperability, improved disclosures, and cross-border capital mobilization. Speakers stressed the need to turn policy into action and use capacity-building to boost sustainable investment in Global South.
Ma Jun, Chairman of CASI, highlighted the initiative’s expansion to 69 member institutions and training of over 7,000 professionals across 100 jurisdictions. He underscored urgency of closing capacity gaps in sustainable finance, including in Latin America for its emerging role as a climate investment hub.
David Atkin, CEO of PRI, addressed a critical gap: emerging markets hold 70% of global solar and wind potential yet receive less than 15% of such investment. Noting these investments reached USD2 trillion in 2024, he outlined a three-year strategy to bridge this disparity.
Maria Netto, Executive Director of iCS, identified three priorities for scaling sustainable finance: harmonizing taxonomies across jurisdictions, strengthening project pipelines, and blending public-private and domestic-international capital.
Carlos Takahashi from AMBIMA welcomed Brazil's sustainable finance taxonomy and highlighted key areas to scale sustainable finance, including strengthening technical capacity and promoting collaboration.
Erik Berglof from the AIIB – one of CASI’s founding members – cited state capacity as key to net-zero, outlining four transition pillars - planning, markets, finance, and industrial policy - and highlighted Brazil’s platform as a model. Johnathan Pershing, COP30 Envoy for North America, shared his views on risk management for sustainable assets.
Expert panels shared experiences and explored options on utilizing the Common Ground Taxonomy (CGT) and the Multi-jurisdictional Common Ground Taxonomy (MCGT) to boost cross-border green capital flows, adopting higher-quality and decision-useful sustainability disclosure standards, and developing tools to turn transparency into measurable climate outcomes.
CASI Academy also showcased expanded capacity-building products by introducing a multilingual curriculum and three-tier competence framework with exams and certifications.
The forum reaffirmed CASI's dedication to enhancing capacity building efforts for scaling sustainable finance ahead of COP30 and beyond.
The full report summary is coming soon.
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About CASI
The Capacity-building Alliance of Sustainable Investment (CASI) is an international cooperation platform committed to delivering high-quality, high-impact sustainable finance capacity-building services for developing countries by serving as a global aggregator and distributor of sustainable finance knowledge. Officially launched at COP28 in December 2023, CASI has grown to include over 70 member institutions, including financial companies, industry associations, NGOs, service start-ups, and higher education institutions, with a geographic reach spanning Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and other emerging markets.
CASI supports the G20’s Transition Finance Framework (TAAP) by facilitating the exchange and dissemination of sustainable finance knowledge through various initiatives such as the CASI Sustainability Forum, CASI Seminar, CASI Technical Assistance (TA), and the CASI Academy—an online e-learning platform offering more than 40 modules on diverse topics related to sustainable finance. For more information about CASI and its members, please visit www.casi.net.
About Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
Convened by the United Nations Secretary-General and developed by an international group of institutional investors, the Principles for Responsible Investment reflect the increasing relevance of environmental, social and corporate governance issues to investment practices.
The six Principles act as a guide for investors to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into their investment practices. They encourage us to work together to invest responsibly, and they foster a culture of transparency – making sure we hold each other accountable for our decisions.
When we follow these principles, we align our financial decisions with the future we want to see: a world where sustainable development is at the core of financial markets.
As a signatory of PRI, you play an active role in shaping a future where financial markets drive positive, lasting change. For more information, please visit: https://www.unpri.org/
About the Institute for Climate and Society (iCS)
The Institute for Climate and Society (iCS) is a philanthropic organization that supports the fight against climate change. It focuses on Brazil through the use of a wide range of approaches and tools that range from institutional and financial support to non-profit organizations. This includes support to develop technical and scientific research, the formation of networks, and the development of capabilities in the different economic segments of Brazilian society.
With an important and diverse network of partners and stakeholders, iCS encourages building bridges between different sectors, and promotiong dialogues and exchanges between ecosystems, seeking to expand the connections and to reduce the approaches of working in silos. iCS understands that this systemic approach is essential for the decarbonization of the Brazilian economy to translate into opportunities of socioeconomic development for the country.
Created shortly after the Paris Agreement, in 2015, the Institute, together with its partners and grantees, has been broadening a collection of experiences and useful knowledge to advance the climate agenda and improve the quality of life of the Brazilian population. . For more information, please visit: https://climaesociedade.org/en/
